Is Babcock a genius, delusional or stubborn?

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Maybe Babs isn't faultless after all?

From http://www.mlive.com/weblogs/snapshots/

Toughness, at this point, is a state of mind as well:

The Flyers effectively pounded the Wings, and it paid off with a rare victory for the team with the worst record in the NHL. Two events during the game stuck out: After Andreas Lilja hit Simon Gagne into the boards, Denis Gauthier jumped Lilja in response (Gauthier jumped Lilja from behind, but that's a different topic), and Lilja didn't fight back. When Mike Richards ran over Joey MacDonald, no Wing responded -- something unlikely to have happened in the days when the Wings had Darren McCarty, Martin Lapointe, Joey Kocur or Brendan Shanahan in the lineup.

"I don't think we've been pushed around that much this year, but we are missing some of what we had with Mac in the past, Shanny a little bit last year," captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We're missing a little bit of that toughness, but it's not the same as it used to be a few years ago when you saw a lot more tough guys. It's not that you have to have one to win. I think we're pretty tough. We might not fight, but I think we can stand up for ourselves as a team."

It pays to bear this in mind, too: The Wings got a four-minute power play out of Gauthier's response, and on most nights that would have yielded a goal for Detroit rather than one for the opposition. That the Wings are third overall in the NHL says something about their level of skill -- and Holland is working to address other needs, pressured by a clock that has begun its countdown.

Lilja could have responded to Gauthier after his penalty expired, too. With guys like Maltby, Franzen, Holmstrom, Lilja, Langfeld, Markov, and Chelios, the Wings aren't hurting for physical bite, and Schneider and Samuelsson have mean streaks, too. It's a matter of using what you've got.

[Guest Crymson]

Good post, Drake. I believe what's worrisome is the lack of retaliation---as per a deterrent to injuries against our stars---and also the lack of hits when we NEED them (i.e. when we're being flattened left and right). In the past, much of the time our physicality was only activated when necessary--that is, when the other team was playing a physical game as well.

Also, we certainly don't have someone who is purely nasty as opposed to just tough. I'd love Laraque for that one..

Edited February 14, 2007 by Crymson

[esteef 2,679]

Good post, Drake. I believe what's worrisome is the lack of retaliation---as per a deterrent to injuries against our stars---and also the lack of hits when we NEED them (i.e. when we're being flattened left and right). In the past, much of the time our physicality was only activated when necessary--that is, when the other team was playing a physical game as well.

Also, we certainly don't have someone who is purely nasty as opposed to just tough. I'd love Laraque for that one..

Totally agree here, we have guys that can hit and muck in the corners, but that usually leads to some scrapping, and no one wants to be that guy. Laraque would be great, because he can actually play as well as destroy people, but I just don't think he would be nasty enough for us right away when we need it. I definitely wouldn't be bitchin' if we got him though.

peace,

esteef

[Guest Crymson]

Totally agree here, we have guys that can hit and muck in the corners, but that usually leads to some scrapping, and no one wants to be that guy. Laraque would be great, because he can actually play as well as destroy people, but I just don't think he would be nasty enough for us right away when we need it. I definitely wouldn't be bitchin' if we got him though.

peace,

esteef

I'll come out and say it again: Andreas Lilja is a douchebag. HE could be this guy.

I'd LOOOOOOVE Laraque. I mean, the guy has 21 points and only 52 PIM despite being a prime fighter and hitter--and he's a PLUS-SIX on PHOENIX of all teams!

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I'll come out and say it again: Andreas Lilja is a douchebag. HE could be this guy.

I'd LOOOOOOVE Laraque. I mean, the guy has 21 points and only 52 PIM despite being a prime fighter and hitter--and he's a PLUS-SIX on PHOENIX of all teams!

His stats are respectible for that type of player too:

TSN's Laraque Stats/Bio

Comparing him to our other players (based on the "on pace" stats for this season):

Malts Vs. Laraque:

Laraque will end up with 3.9 times the points, be at +9 instead of -10, take 60% less shots, have a shooting percentage that's 4.3 times higher, just over twice the penalty minutes and do that in four less games (gasp! ), but his skating is poor compared to almost everyone else on the Wings.

Advantage: Malts- he's a PK master, so we need him for that, but other then the PK I really have to say Laraque is playing far better. My love of Malts is purely nostalgic at this point...

Vs. Markov:

Laraque will end up with 33% more points, while losing out in the +/- department by a significant margin (50%), but have a shooting percentage twice that of Markov's.

I'm not sure what that accomplished, but it was fun to use play with stats.